Electromagnetic Spectrum Web Quest

Directions: Use the following web sites to answer the questions below. Make sure your
responses are in complete sentences. Please Change your response font to Blue color

1) Use the following web site http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/hframe.html to choose

a specific wavelength of visible light, a radio wave, and an x-ray to fill in the chart below.
Remember your units!

Type of radiation Wavelength Frequency Wave Speed

Visible Light 750-400 nm 4-7.5 x 10^14 Hz 3.0 x 10^8 m/s

Radio Wave 600-200 m 500 – 1500 kHz 3.0 x 10^8 m/s

X-Ray 10 nm -> downward 3 x 10^16 Hz 3.0 x 10^8 m/s

2) Which type of radiation has the most energy? How or where is this radiation
formed?
Gamma rays produce the most energy. They are produced primarily by four different nuclear
reactions: fusion, fission, alpha decay, and gamma decay.

3) How does the energy of the different waves of the spectrum vary with
frequency? With wavelength?

Radio waves, television waves, and microwaves are all types of electromagnetic waves. They
differ from each other in wavelength. Wavelength is the distance between one wave crest to the
next.
 4) What is the frequency range of UV light? Of Infrared light?
UV light: 7.5 x 1014-3 x 1016
Infrared light: 3 x 1012 – 4.3 x1014

5) If you are use night-vision goggles, what part of the spectrum are you detecting?
Infrared Spectrum

Use http://www.ntia.doc.gov/osmhome/allochrt.pdf to answer questions 12-14

6) What frequency range does the United States use for FM broadcasting? For
AM broadcasting?
FM: 88 to 108 MHz
AM: 535 – 1605

7) What frequency does television channel 7 broadcast at?

30 MHz

8) How large a band of frequencies does each television broadcasting channel get?
Between 54 and 216 MHz

Use the link listed below to answer the

http://www.qrg.northwestern.edu/projects/vss/docs/Communications/2-more-about-radio-
waves.html

9) What is the range of radio waves?

As high as 300 gigahertz (M)
10) What interferes with radio waves?
Aluminum foil, and other electrically conductive metals such as copper, can reflect and absorb
the radio waves and consequently interferes with their transmission.

11) What is wavelength?

Forms of electromagnetic radiation like radio waves, light waves or infrared (heat) waves
make characteristic patterns as they travel through space. Each wave has a certain shape and
length. The distance between peaks (high points) is called wavelength.

12) What is frequency?

Frequency describes the number of waves that pass a fixed place in a given amount of time.